As a child develops, one of the most challenging experiences encountered is that of negotiating stairs. While crawling and walking are generally learned without great difficulty and without significant harm to the child, learning to move up and down stairs is not only difficult, but somewhat dangerous. While stair railings are typically provided in association with most stairways, these railings are typically positioned sufficiently above the stairs to accomodate adults. As such, they are out of the reach of youngsters, and provide little if any assistance in their learning to negotiate the stairs. Indeed, standard handrails are so positioned that any attempts by a toddler to reach a handrail actually compromises his or her ability to climb or descend the stairs.
In the past, it has been known to actually affix a lower rail to a wall or other permanent structure in order to accomodate youngsters. However, such attachments have generally been of a semi-permanent nature and have required repair, such as patching of screw holes and the like, when removed. The prior art has also suggested other approaches to securing lower handrails in association with stairs, but such approaches have generally not been of a sufficiently secure nature to provide the child with the necessary confidence to negotiate the stairs in a safe manner and they have typically been of a complex and expensive design, not given to ease of application. Accordingly, there remains in the art a need for a temporary suspended stair rail for children which may be easily and securely attached to and suspended from a standard stair railing.